Wedding Toast
by R. Franke
Summary: Bill Scully Jr. offers a wedding toast


TITLE: Wedding Toast

AUTHOR: R. Franke

E-MAIL: [**rbfranke@juno.com**][1]

RATING: PG

CLASSIFICATION: V, MSR

SPOILERS: Requiem (7th season finale)

SUMMARY: Bill Scully Jr. offers a wedding toast.

DISCLAIMER: Scully, Mulder, et al. are the property of Chris Carter, 1013 Productions, the Fox Network, the actors, writers, and all other persons known or unknown with a legal claim on the characters. This is a story of fan fiction, written for the purpose of personal satisfaction and the enjoyment of others, and monetary or other compensation is neither expected nor desired.

ARCHIVE: Permission is given to archive this story, provided it is archived without alteration, including this disclaimer and copyright notice, and the author is contacted at [**rbfranke@juno.com**][1]

COPYRIGHT: 2000 by R. Franke

****

WEDDING TOAST

"Nervous?" Bill Scully asked.

"Terrified," his sister admitted. "What if we forgot something? What if something goes wrong, and I drop the ring, or step on my train or, or- People are going to think the only reason we're doing this is-" she motioned towards her stomach, swollen in obvious pregnancy.

"Honi soit qui mal y pense, Dana," Bill replied. "The people who love you know why. And," he continued firmly, "between Mom and Tara everything's been taken care of." He leaned closer, lowering his voice to a conspiratorial whisper. "Besides, I have it on excellent authority that Murphy is absolutely terrified of messing with the Scully women when they've got their minds set on something running right."

Scully swatted her brother, a small giggle escaping her. "Stop it." She plucked a microscopic piece of lint off her brother's uniform. "Bill," she said, her voice suddenly serious. "I just want to say thank you. For everything. I know you still don't like Mulder that much, and-"

"Hey," Bill interrupted. "Do you think I'd let somebody else walk my baby sister down the aisle?" He smiled as the opening notes of Chopin's Wedding March filtered through the closed door and offered Scully his arm. "Ready?"

"Absolutely not," Scully replied, taking his arm and nodding to the attendants. The two men swung the church doors open.

* * * * * *

Bill stood and tapped his water glass with a knife. "Everyone? May I have your attention please? Everyone?" He waited until the murmur of conversation died down. "As a lot of you know, I didn't have too high an opinion of Fox Mulder when we first met, and I let him, and everyone else, know it in my typically diplomatic fashion." He paused while his audience chuckled. He smiled slightly. "I guess I let my overprotective big brother instincts take over a bit. But I'll behave myself, especially since Dana all but promised me a repeat of the Baseball Bat Incident if I didn't." The Scully family burst into laughter.

"That was an accident," Scully called out. "Besides, you deserved it."

"Baseball Bat Incident?" Mulder asked, an exaggerated quaver of fear in his voice.

"Trust me," Bill smiled and rubbed his temple. "Messing with Dana is definitely not healthy."

Mulder gave an answering smile as he rubbed his shoulder. "Oh, I learned that one real quick."

"Oh!" Scully swatted Mulder and glared at Bill. "Shut up, both of you." A rosy blush covered her cheeks as she tried to keep from smiling. "Just shut up."

"Aunt Dana," Matthew Scully spoke with the total seriousness only a young child could muster. "You're not s'posed to say shut up. S'not nice." 

Scully blushed further as the wedding guests laughed. "You're right, Matthew, it's not nice. And I apologize."

"S'okay," Matthew replied.

Bill hugged his son to him with one arm and ruffled his hair. "Sit down, Tiger," he ordered. Matthew complied with a slightly confused grin. "Anyhow, as I was saying, when I first met Fox Mulder I thought he was a flaky goofball who didn't deserve to have my sister as a partner. But I've gotten to know him these past few weeks, and now I can say with absolute conviction," he turned towards Mulder, "you are a flaky goofball, and you definitely don't deserve Dana. But," he continued with a slight smile, "you make her happy, and I guess that's what really matters." He turned back towards the guests and raised his wineglass in salute. "Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. and Mrs. Fox William Mulder."

FINIS

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Bill quotes the motto of the British Order of the Garter to his sister, which is most commonly translated from the French as "Shame to him who thinks it shameful." I wrote this little vignette because I disagree with the seeming consensus among fanfic authors that Bill Scully Jr. is an overbearing, pompous ass determined to wreck his sister's only chance at true happiness, if not the immediate and proximate cause of every bad thing that has ever happened to her since birth, instead of just possibly an overprotective big brother who may have reason to worry about his little sister's personal and professional well-being. Having said that, I will grant that he can be pompous and overbearing, as well as stubborn and occasionally hotheaded. But then again, stubborn and occasionally hotheaded would be a good description of Dana Scully as well.

Comments? Questions? Opinions? [rbfranke@juno.com][1]

   [1]: mailto:rbfranke@juno.com



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